Christie’s to Sell Photographs from Museum of Modern Art’s Collection

Christie’s will offer works from the Museum of Modern Art’s photography holdings in a series of live and online auctions held over the course of the next year, starting with four photographs that will go up on the block during its photography day sale in New York on October 10.

Overall, more than 400 works from MoMA’s collection will be auctioned off, with funds from sales going toward the acquisition fund for MoMA’s photography department. A spokesperson from the museum told ARTnews that the majority of works are being deaccessioned because they are duplicates.

The sales will include works by Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Man Ray, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, and Garry Winogrand. Separate sales will be devoted to works by Brandt, Evans, Cartier-Bresson, and Winogrand. Highlights from the store of photographs will be exhibited at Christie’s locations in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In a statement, Darius Himes, the international head of photographs at Christie’s, said, “Many of the artists represented in this series of live and online auctions will be deeply familiar to any student of photography, and are beloved on an international scale. These auctions represent a unique opportunity to support the Museum and own a piece of photographic history.”